ESPN College Football

Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti says he already has a short list of candidates to become the next head coach of the Scarlet Knights.

So what exactly is he looking for?

“I think there are a lot of criteria," he said Thursday. "No. 1, we want the right kind of person. Understanding and being able to have your arms around the culture of the tri-state area I think is critical to being successful at Rutgers. So much of it has been built around being able to recruit on a somewhat regional level, that I think not only having a great understanding, but having really deep and strong relationships in the tri-state area. I think those are two very critical factors in this whole thing.”

Who fits the description? Here are a few possibilities:

Temple coach Steve Addazio. In his first season as the head coach at Temple, Addazio went 9-4 and brought the Owls back to a bowl game. He has ties to the tri-state area, having grown up and coached in Connecticut. He also served as an assistant at Syracuse in the 1990s and he clearly has established ties in the past year in the Pennsylvania area. That state has been a huge recruiting area for Rutgers, particularly given what has happened to Penn State.

Florida International coach Mario Cristobal. One of the brightest up-and-coming coaches in the country, Cristobal has done for FIU what Schiano did for Rutgers. He completely resurrected a program mired in misery, taking it to its first-ever conference title and back-to-back bowl appearances for the first time, too. FIU is obviously a much younger program, but Cristobal has got the coaching and recruiting chops. Plus, he worked under Schiano at Rutgers from 2001-03, so he has a familiar with the recruiting area. Cristobal was also a candidate for the Pitt job before ultimately deciding he wanted to stay in the South Florida area. What could Rutgers say to change his mind?

Notre Dame defensive coordinator Bob Diaco. A defensive mastermind like Schiano (who also served as defensive coordinator this past season), Diaco is from Cedar Grove, N.J., and has some coaching experience in the Big East. He was an assistant at Cincinnati under then-coach Brian Kelly before leaving to join Kelly with the Irish.

I had a better weekend than the Big East did. Thanks to Louisville, I nailed the upset pick and went 6-1. Would have been perfect had UConn held onto its fourth-quarter lead. That makes me 19-4 through three weeks. There are some big nonconference games this weekend, so let us see how I think they will shake out:

NC State (2-1) at Cincinnati (2-1), 8 p.m., Thursday, ESPN. The Bearcats have a chance to redeem themselves after a disappointing performance against Tennessee in their previous nationally televised game. The secondary needs to play much better or Mike Glennon could have a big day. It is hard to get a gauge on both these teams. They have dropped their only contests against teams from AQ conferences. Last year, NC State had its way with Cincinnati. But this time around, the Bearcats will not be pushovers. They will take advantage of a depleted NC State defense to come out with a victory. Cincinnati 33, NC State 30.

Toledo (1-2) at Syracuse (2-1), noon, Saturday, ESPN3. The Orange should be on upset alert in this one, because Toledo is a talented team that threw a scare into Ohio State on the road a few weeks ago. The Rockets play two quarterbacks and have a speedy receiver/returner in Eric Page who has the potential to cause problems against a banged-up secondary. Kellen Moore picked the Rockets defense apart last week, and many of the big gains were on short screen passes or underneath routes. The Orange should use a similar game plan, especially with the way Ryan Nassib has played. Syracuse 27, Toledo 24.

Notre Dame (1-2) at Pitt (2-1), noon, ABC. The Panthers should be 3-0, but blew a 24-3 lead to Iowa last week and lost. Turnovers were the undoing of the Irish in their first two games, but they showed their potential last week against Michigan State. I fear for Pitt in this game because of the way the Irish have been able to pass the ball, averaging 289 yards a game. This is one area Pitt has struggled to defend so unless the Panthers make the Irish cough up the ball, I see a Notre Dame win. Notre Dame 27, Pitt 21.

Ohio (3-0) at Rutgers (1-1), 2 p.m., ESPN3. The Bobcats are one of the best teams in the MAC and run a unique style of offense that incorporates some of the Pistol, making it a challenge to defend. The defense is solid, too, and has a pretty decent pass rush, with seven sacks already on the season. The Scarlet Knights are going to try Savon Huggins a bit more at running back, but I think Chas Dodd to Mohamed Sanu will be the difference in this one. Rutgers 30, Ohio 21.

Connecticut (1-2) at Buffalo (1-2), 6 p.m., ESPN3. The Huskies have been dreadful on offense, and need to find some consistency at quarterback. Here is hoping coach Paul Pasqualoni comes to a decision and fast. The Bulls put a scare into Pitt in the season opener and are capable hitting some big passes. But the UConn defense is going to stop giving up the big plays which will help the Huskies win. UConn 24, Buffalo 17.

UTEP (2-1) at No. 18 USF (3-0), 7 p.m., ESPN3. The Bulls should not have much of a problem with UTEP, which has played three different quarterbacks already this season. One thing to watch is the USF offensive line against the UTEP front -- the Miners have nine sacks this season. They have an opportunistic defense as well, with six takeaways. But B.J. Daniels should have another big game. One note: UTEP has never won in the Eastern Time Zone. USF 45, UTEP 13.

No. 2 LSU (3-0) at No. 16 West Virginia, 8 p.m., ABC. Now we arrive at the game of the week. I have been getting questions about this game since my first day on the blog back in May, and have been anticipating it as much as you. I think the Mountaineers can absolutely hang with the Tigers. Geno Smith will make some big plays in the passing game. I bet Bruce Irvin picks up at least a sack. But to me, the big advantage is along the Tigers' defensive front. Their size and speed are a challenge, and they also rotate players in so they stay fresh. I think that is going to be the difference in the game. As much as I would love to pick an upset, I am going with LSU 24, West Virginia 20.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Greetings from Notre Dame Stadium, where the weather is postcard perfect: 80 degrees without a cloud in the sky.

This should be a good matchup between two teams who appear fairly even. I want to see if Pittsburgh's revamped offensive line can handle a step up in competition from last week's win over FIU. In particularly, I'm wondering if new starting right tackle Jordan Gibbs can stave off the pass rush from Kapron Lewis-Moore, Kerry Neal and perhaps Darius Fleming. I bet Notre Dame will test him early.

Obviously, Tino Sunseri has to play his best game of the year for Pitt to win. On the flip side, Dayne Crist needs to be more consistent for the Irish, and opportunities should be there for Theo Riddick and Kyle Rudolph against the Panthers linebackers.

For Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly, he needs to get the Irish over the hump against teams from his former league. The Big East has won four straight over the Irish, including Pitt twice, UConn last year and Syracuse two years ago.

Lots and lots of interesting battles today, and I haven't even gotten to the Dion Lewis/Ray Graham situation and Notre Dame's improved rush defense.

Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly calls this week's game against Pittsburgh "like playing a conference opponent more than anything else."

Settle down. The Irish aren't considering joining the Big East. But these two programs are very familiar with one another.

Pitt will have to hope that Saturday isn't that much like recent conference games involving Kelly. His Cincinnati teams eliminated the Panthers from the Big East title chase the last two years, winning 28-21 in Nippert Stadium two years ago and then pulling out last year's epic 45-44 thriller in the season finale. Kelly might be all that stood in the way of Dave Wannstedt having taken Pitt to two straight BCS games.

"I don't know if it's one particular thing where you can say, 'Boy, they don't do this well or don't do that well,'" Kelly said of holding the edge over the Panthers. "We know what their personality is, and both games we played came down to the last possession."

Kelly may have a new address, but Wannstedt said the Irish look a whole lot like his old Bearcats teams.

"Both coordinators are with him, so schematically there is a lot of carryover," Wannstedt said. "They’re not quite as far along in their passing game today at Notre Dame like they were last year at the end of the year with Cincinnati, having those kids around him a couple of years."

While Kelly might have had Wannstedt's number recently in the Big East, it's the opposite story for Pitt and Notre Dame.

The Panthers have beaten the Irish (2-3) each of the last two seasons, including an overtime win in South Bend in 2008 and last year's 27-22 victory in Heinz Field. The gold helmets won't intimidate them.

“We’ve played these guys the last couple of years so our players are somewhat familiar with the environment, their players and the scheme," Wannstedt said. "We need to go up there and play well. We still haven’t played close to what we’re capable of playing."

Pittsburgh (2-2) showed some improvement against Florida International after shaking up its offensive line, but it still led only 16-10 after three quarters before shaking free for a 44-17 win. Spread offenses have traditionally given the Panthers trouble, which is one possible reason why Kelly had the upper hand the past two years. But moving Dom DeCicco up from safety to linebacker might help the defense's ability to control the Irish passing game.

Regardless, there won't be many secrets between the two sides.

"They know what we're going to do offensively, and we kind of know what they're going to do defensively, so that's a wash," Kelly said. "I think this comes down to who's better prepared and who executes better on Saturday, because we know each other so well."

You've asked about, I've written about and many of us agree it's a worthy gamble: Should the Big East kick out Notre Dame, thus possibly saving itself in the process?

The thinking goes like this: Without a home for its non-football sports, the Irish might be forced to accept an offer to join the Big Ten. And then that league could be satisfied enough that it doesn't have to raid the Big East for more teams.

It's an interesting idea. So I put it to John Marinatto, the Big East commissioner. I asked him if the league had kicked that thought around.

"No," he said. "We have not had any of those discussions at any level within the conference. Some of the coaches may have had those discussions amongst themselves."

That led to another question. Remember last month, when Randy Edsall reportedly told a group of business leaders that the football coaches had been asking the conference to deliver an ultimatum to Notre Dame? I asked Marinatto how serious the coaches' demands were and whether that became a topic at the Big East meetings earlier this week in Ponte Vedra, Fla.

"The coaches meet in a room and have an agenda that they create," Marinatto said. "Their discussions may or may not have turned to Notre Dame, but it was not on the official agenda. I'm sure they may have talked about it."

From the conference leadership's perspective, the Irish have been a good partner to the league and there's very little sentiment about ending that relationship. Marinatto and the Big East are trying to find ways to increase their revenue streams and form strategies for the future, which may include a league-operated cable network. As such, they want to keep Notre Dame around as a member that can provide value in different ways, even if the Irish will never join the conference for football.

Connecticut coach Randy Edsall spoke at a luncheon meeting of the Northeastern Connecticut Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday. Big deal, right?

Well, Edsall apparently said something pretty interesting during the question-and-answer portion of his talk. According to Marc Allard of the Norwich Bulletin, Edsall "said the football coaches have been asking the conference to deliver an ultimatum to Notre Dame to come into the conference for football or get out entirely for the last two years. He added that, if as speculated, two teams leave for the Big Ten, 'the Big East is all done.'"

When speaking to reporters and asked about the Notre Dame ultimatum, all Edsall said was: "I think that’s something the powers that be are discussing in terms of the strategies that they’re looking at to be proactive rather than reactive."

Now, as I've said before, Notre Dame has been good for Big East football the past five years. If you don't see that, you're ignoring reality. The Irish helped the league improve or hold onto its bowl tie-ins during a time of uncertainty for the league while kindly not winning enough games to ever steal a Big East postseason slot.

But the situation now is more complex. Issuing such an ultimatum to Notre Dame could help save the Big East, because it might -- emphasis on might -- push the Irish in the direction of joining the Big Ten to save their other sports. (Because, let's be honest, any ultimatum to Notre Dame would basically end the Irish's Big East involvement, because they are not joining the Big East for football.)

If the Golden Domers join the Big Ten, then perhaps that league is satisfied and doesn't raid the Big East for more teams. I'd still call everything in that scenario a long shot, but it's a gamble that may be worth taking now for the Big East.

The more interesting part is that Edsall says the coaches have been pushing for this change. I wonder how much traction that idea has gotten, because the league office has steadfastly insisted that Notre Dame is a good partner. But you can understand where the coaches are coming from, particularly when they see the opportunity for the Irish to take a hard-earned bowl slot away from a deserving Big East team.

Brian Kelly, who has coached Cincinnati's football team to a 12-0 record this season and a berth in the Sugar Bowl, will be the new coach at Notre Dame, two sources have told ESPN's Chris Mortensen.

Neither Notre Dame nor Cincinnati has confirmed that Kelly has accepted an offer to coach the Fighting Irish, and Kelly could not be reached for comment, but the sources tell Mortensen that Kelly is Notre Dame's choice to replace the fired Charlie Weis.

Read the full story here.

Barely a day goes by when I don't get at least one email or comment from saying the Big East should issue an ultimatum to Notre Dame, telling the Irish to join the league in football or get out of the conference all together.

Which is like me telling a supermodel, either marry me or I'll stop hiding in the bushes outside your house. It's a completely ludicrous idea.

Still, we know that the Irish and their special relationship with the league get under the skin of a lot of Big East fans. So this next statement won't be popular, but it's true: Notre Dame has been good for Big East football the past five years.

Think about it. Before the 2005 season, the league faced an uncertain future. Miami, Boston College and Virginia Tech had bolted for the ACC. Louisville, South Florida and Cincinnati joined, but no one knew how strong the conference would be, or if it could even stick together. Through all this, the Big East had to negotiate new bowl agreements with almost no leverage. League officials were able to land the Gator/Sun bowl deal by offering those games the chance to take Notre Dame twice in a four-year span.

Had the Irish not been included in the arrangement, who knows what kind of deal the Big East would have gotten. It probably wouldn't have had the Gator at all, and maybe not even the Sun. The entire lineup would be far, far worse.

The Gator and Sun bowl people were salivating at having the Irish bring their national fan base to Jacksonville and El Paso. But Notre Dame was either too good (making the BCS in 2006) or too bad (losing record in 2007, 6-6 regular seasons in 2008 and 2009) to ever be available to those games. Thus, the Big East got the benefit of the Irish appeal without ever having to sacrifice anything in the process.

Notre Dame was also kind enough to lose to Pitt (twice), UConn and Syracuse in the last two years, providing big wins for all three of those programs.

Going forward, the Irish look headed for some possible rebuilding under whatever new head coach they hire. They can only take the Champs Sports Bowl from a Big East team once in the next four years.

So instead of complaining about the Golden Domers all the time, Big East fans should thank them for their contributions to the league the past five seasons.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- After all the Notre Dame seniors had been saluted on the field before their final home game on Saturday, they made a U-turn back to the team tunnel.

There the players summoned head coach Charlie Weis, who normally hobbles to the sidelines on his bad knees behind the rest of the team. They wanted him up front and center this time.

"It was an idea that myself and two other guys had," quarterback Jimmy Clausen said. "It was Senior Day, but coach Weis has gone through a lot, and we're behind him 110 percent. And that's what we were trying to do today."

It was a nice symbolic gesture of support. But ultimately, how the team played against Connecticut in a 33-30 double-overtime loss sent the loudest message.

Weis had nothing to gain by beating UConn, really. But by losing, for the third straight week and for the second consecutive year to a Big East team on Senior Day, he surrendered all chance of returning for a sixth season.

Unlike previous difficult losses, athletic director Jack Swarbrick didn't come into the media room after the game to answer questions. There was no need. Swarbrick has insisted that he will evaluate Weis at the end of the season and won't make any announcements until after next week's season finale at Stanford.

But there is nothing left to evaluate. The announcement will be a mere formality.

Weis now has a lower winning percentage than predecessors Bob Davie and Ty Willingham. He is 16-20 in the last three years. The Irish will be heavy underdogs to Stanford, and a defeat will guarantee a third straight non-winning regular season.

It's telling that Notre Dame can now not even win on its own Senior Day against a team that didn't join the FBS until 2002. Saturday's game summed up much of what has gone wrong this year.

As usual, the Irish piled up some pretty offensive stats. Clausen passed for 329 yards. Golden Tate and Michael Floyd each had more than 100 yards receiving. Armando Allen ran for 106 yards.

But against a UConn team that had found ways to lose at the end of five of its previous nine games this year, Notre Dame did the gift-giving. It had a 14-0 lead after the second play of the second quarter but couldn't manage another touchdown in regulation. The red zone, where Weis' play-calling has short-circuited all season, again became a problem as the Irish settled for field goals despite driving inside the UConn 6-yard line twice in the second half.

Remember the infamous "decided schematic advantage" quote? Connecticut coach Randy Edsall put that to shame by admitting that his team made very few adjustments on defense after the first drive. Edsall said the Huskies had noticed Notre Dame's tendencies from the shotgun and under center from studying film.

"We just stayed with what we did," Edsall said. "We played a little more three-deep zone. But the whole game plan was, when they were in the gun, we were going to bang the crap out their two outstanding receivers."

The Irish compounded their problems with horrendous tackling against the run, a major issue all season. They gave up a kickoff return for a touchdown. Sergio Brown committed a boneheaded personal foul on a third-down incompletion to set up UConn's first score. And Allen fumbled on his team's final drive in regulation.

In a BCS-or-bust season, Notre Dame is now in danger of losing its final four games and being relegated to whatever bowl will take a 6-6 at-large team. If Notre Dame even accepts a postseason bid.

"Sitting at 6-2, you're thinking, 'Wow, we've got a chance to do some special things,'" Tate said. "Then all that's taken from you. Three games straight, we've let games go."

This shouldn't still be happening, not with several members of Weis' first full recruiting now fifth-year seniors. Not with such stars as Clausen and Tate setting school records. And as several starters graduate and Clausen and Tate look like strong early-entry candidates for the NFL draft, one has to wonder how things would get any better.

As usual, Weis deflected any questions about his own status, saying only that he felt "absolutely miserable" for the seniors.

"Today's not the day for me to reflect on things like that," he said. "I'll worry about me tomorrow."

There was a brief pause after Weis first opened up his news conference for questions. He took a small stab at humor in the interlude by saying, "Is that it?"

But that's not a query anyone needed to pose Saturday night. This was most definitely it for Weis' tenure at Notre Dame.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Connecticut has done the Big East a favor and possibly ended Charlie Weis' career at Notre Dame.

Andre Dixon scored from four yards out in the second overtime as UConn beat Notre Dame 33-30.

The win puts the Gator Bowl very much back in play for the Big East, as the Irish will have to win at Stanford next week to avoid going 6-6. UConn evened its record at 5-5 and finally won a close game.

Great win for the Huskies, more bitter disappointment for Notre Dame and Weis.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Perhaps the country's two biggest cardiac-kid teams came down to the wire, as expected. And beyond.

Connecticut's Dave Teggart missed a 37-yarder with no time left as the game went to overtime tied at 20.

An Armando Allen fumble with 49 seconds left gave UConn the ball back near the Notre Dame 40. But Teggart missed wide left after UConn had driven it to the 20.

UConn had two earlier Andre Dixon rushing touchdowns wiped out by holding penalties. The Huskies tied it up on a 29-yard field goal by Teggart with 1:10 left.

Connecticut missed a golden chance earlier in the fourth quarter when Zach Frazer threw a pick in the end zone. But Notre Dame had to settle for field goals twice after drives deep into UConn territory.

Crazy. But totally expected.

No surprise at all that UConn and Notre Dame are tied at 17 heading into the fourth quarter.

With these two teams, you might as well start at the two-minute mark with no score.

UConn didn't do anything offensively in the third quarter but is tied thanks to Jordan Todman's kickoff return touchdown. The Huskies also got a goalline stand to force Notre Dame to settle for a field goal and recovered a fumble inside their own 15.

Clearly, though, the Irish are moving the ball more effectively now and have the advantage down the stretch. UConn will need a good drive or two before this one is over to have a chance to win.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Special teams have not been a strength for Notre Dame this year.

UConn's Jordan Todman exploited a weakness by bringing a kickoff return back for a 96-yard touchdown in the third quarter to tie the score at 17. It was the second kickoff return for a score given up by the Irish this year; they were also burned at Michigan.

The Huskies keep hanging around. Did anybody expect anything different in this game?

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- UConn was doing a whole lot of nothing for most of its first four drives.

But the thing about playing Notre Dame is, all you have to do is wait a while, and the Irish will help you out.

That's what happened here. First, Sergio Brown committed a boneheaded penalty by hitting a receiver out of bounds on a third-down incompletion. Then Jordan Todman scooted past four phantom Irish tacklers on his way to an impossibly easy 43-yard touchdown run to make it 14-7.

It's game on, suddenly. And Notre Dame's defensive and discipline issues are back on the front burner.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Quite a difference between the scene today and the last game I covered here, against USC.

On that day, fans were in their seats and making all kinds of noise well before kickoff. Now, we're less than 30 minutes before the game and the place is nearly 40 percent empty.

The excitement level is different for the Irish, but for UConn, this is a huge moment. People can say what they want about Notre Dame, but playing here is still special, and the Huskies had some pep in their step during warmups. It will be up to Notre Dame to match that intensity after a distraction-filled couple of weeks.